So, I've been reading a lot about the benefits of creating a UX vision for your app or app suite, creating unique UX design statements and component libraries. Which all sound very interesting. But, I'm having a hard time figuring out where in a typical web project you'll do this exercises.

When during a process have you created such things? Before or during the design phase? Have you only done it in internal projects and not for clients?

"Before or during the design phase?" = Yes. Also, afterwards as well. (Point being, this is ideally something you are 'bringing along' and tweaking as needed throughout the entire process.)
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DA01Jul 25 '13 at 14:09

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This works for both internal and external projects, but if the organization does not buy in the UX philosophy/methodology then it is probably more for personal benefit.
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Michael LaiJul 25 '13 at 23:23

Doesn't seem to work quite as well during the design phase as it tends to be before the design process, only because it tends to change a lot more if done during the design phase.
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Michael LaiJul 21 '14 at 2:45

2 Answers
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Simply based on the information in the link you provided, I think the answer is "the sooner the better". Maybe it's something that's decided upon before realizing changes need to be made. i.e.: making the entire company's website more user-friendly > Finding out the shopping cart isn't user-friendly at all and deciding something should be done.

If done during the requirements phase (or before) it would be much more successful than at other times, as efforts can be made to incorporate the vision into the development of a project from the start.

If you're mid-project and everyone decides it's necessary for the company's future, there's no reason not to switch the focus to that new vision. Going back and changing an ongoing project to align closer to the vision may not be the best or most feasible solution, but all future work can hopefully be aligned closer to the vision going forward.

Picking a vision at the end of a project to test the project against is probably the worst time to do it...obviously it's a bad idea to retroactively judge a project on requirements that were never previously discussed.

As per your question, this has to be done in real world projects and not only in college projects. This is because the client generally requires a fully functional project along with a good UI/UX.

So, in Design phase, when the system is being designed by the software developers, the UI/UX designers can accompany them to design a good UI along with correct backend functionalities.

The designed system should build a sort of confidence in users while using the system and this will only happen when the UI is designed by taking into consideration Human Computer Interaction Principles.